5W vs. Bumper Pull

rhagfo wrote:

Well not really!
If you put 100# in the bed of the TV it adds 100# to the TV GVW. If you place that 100# in the basement only a percentage of it goes on the pin, most likely less than 50% of the 100#, even if the basement is half way between the axles and pin, as tandem axles don't act as a true fulcrum.

Dry storage is acheved with a bed cover when not towing, yes the bed is exposed while towing, but you can be dry when not towing.

Everyone has their preference for different reasons, but those that state "You loose the TV bed with a 5er" are incorrect, up to the top of hitch is available, and as stated before lawn chairs, canopies, leveling blocks, BBQ can all be placed in the basement and left between trips.

I have always been a 5er person for the natural stability of the package.

I have towed both kinds of trailers and with a well engineered hitch and adequate tow vehicle, there is not a nickel's worth of difference. With an electric tongue jack, hitching and unhitching requires the same amount of time and effort too. I do like the shorter overall length when parking at Walmart. The extra steps, I can do without.

I carry heavy items like spare tires and seldom used toolboxes at the front of my truck bed which puts some weight on the front suspension and about the same as basement storage does on the rear suspension. I am not concerned with an extra one hundred pounds one place or the other.

The complex framing makes the fifth wheel trailers more expensive per square foot of living space than that of the typical one level travel trailer, but some like to spend more than others on their RV's. Do a search on "Chucking" if one thinks towing a fifth wheel trailer is perfection.